The First Impression
by Kellouka2
Summary: Nick always considered Clint Barton one of the best SHIELD agents. Agent Barton had gained rightfully Nick's trust and the privillege of being called the SHIELD's finest. Well, at least since he spared the life to one of the most dangerous SHIELD enemies.


**Okay so this has been in my computer for almost a year now and I just wouldn't publish it. It always feels weird when you start writing for a fandom you have never written before. Anyway, this is my first writing attempt in the Marvel fandom. As always, I apologize in advance for any grammar/vocabulary mistakes, english isn't my mother tongue. :/ Enjoy :)**

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Nick always considered Clint Barton one of the best - if not _the best_ \- SHIELD agents. He would manage to pull through any mission he was assigned, always adding his own critical judgement and personal skill set to each one of them. Agent Barton had gained rightfully Nick's trust and the privillege of being called _the SHIELD's finest._ Well, at least since he spared the life to one of the most dangerous SHIELD enemies.

Nick punched the table with his fist, making Coulson jump in terror. "Get Barton, right now!" He barked.

"S-Sir?" Phil stattered. "Agent Barton has not returned from Germany yet. He's in a mission."

"I don't care! Get your ass and bring him to me, immediately! I want him in my office in two hours!" Fury yelled.

"Of course, sir. I'll sent agents to Germany to finish his job so he can be here as soon as possible."

...

Clint was lying in a motel room's bed with his bow on his lap, tapping his fingers on it in the rhythm of his favorite song. His arrows were positioned right next him in case his enemy emerged suddenly to disrupt his peace.

" _Agent Barton, where are you?_ "

"Where do you want me to be, Coulson? Just name it and I'll be there."

" _Barton, cut it. Nick is furious with you._ "

Clint rolled his eyes. _There it is._ He sat up and started preparing himself to leave out of there. "Well, it shouldn't surprise you, Coulson. Why do you think his name is Fury?" He joked as he walked out of the motel room.

" _He wants you in his office in two hours._ "

"Sorry, I find that a little hard." He jumped into his car and drove away.

" _Agent Barton, I'm not joking around._ "

"Neither am I, Agent Coulson. I'm in the middle of a mission here." He exited the vehicle and approached the two prison guards. "Hi, guys. I need to get into your lovely prison for a while."

"We need an ID."

" _Abort the mission, you need to come back._ "

"Oh, of course." Clint replied to the guard, completely ignoring Phil talking in his ear. "Here's the ID." He punched the first guard, knocking him out. The second one pulled out his gun, but Clint was faster and grabbed the gun off his hands, pointing it at him. "You wanna let me in, now?" He muttered.

" _Agent Barton, what the hell do you think you're doing?_ "

"I'm not gonna abandon my mission just because Nick is _mad_." He started walking between the prisoners, trying to reach a certain cell. "I'm almost there, Coulson."

" _I repeat. Agent Barton, abort the mission. Do you copy?_ " He didn't get an answer. " _Agent Barton, do you copy?_ "

"Shut up, Coulson. I _do not_ copy."

" _Get the hell out of there, I'm sending two agents to finish up your mission._ "

"No need for that, Phil. The guy is dead." Clint stated as he made his way back between the prisoners.

" _What?_ "

Clint rolled his eyes, leaving out a heavy sigh. "This mission, Coulson. It's done."

" _I told you to abort. That was my order to you._ "

"Well, your order was stupid so I chose not to listen to it."

" _And you killed him?_ "

"Yeah."

" _How the hell did you do that?_ "

"I got into the prison, I found the cell, I killed the guy. Simple as that. That's my job, in case you don't know."

" _What about the guards? And his 'friends'?_ "

"The guards are knocked down and Cane's little friends had the same fate with him. According to SHIELD, they knew the information he leaked and that makes them a threat, too."

" _How did you pull this off while I was talking to you?_ "

"Oh, you were talking? I wasn't paying much attention." Clint entered his car and drove off.

Phil let out a deep sigh. " _So, I have to order the team to come back?_ "

"Yes, Coulson. It's done." He smirked. "And I'm gonna say it."

" _Barton, no._ "

"Oh, I'm _so_ gonna say it."

" _Agent Clint Barton, don't you dare sa-_ "

"Mission accomplished!"

" _You dared._ "

"Oh, yes I did."

" _Just... Come here, Barton. Nick really wants to talk with you._ "

Clint cut off the connection. He scoffed. "Yeah, more like, _yell_ at me."

...

Phil knocked shyly the Director's office door. " _If you're not Barton, I don't care._ " A voice replied from the inside.

Agent Coulson cleared his throat. "It's-um... It's agent Coulson, sir. May I come in?"

" _Get in here, Coulson._ "

Phil entered Fury's office. "Director."

Nick stood up from his seat and put his hands behind his back. "Phil." They kept staring at each for several minutes, before Nick broke the silence. "Where is he?"

"He's on his way."

"On his _way?_ "

Phil gulped. "Yes, sir. I spoke to him, he's coming back as we speak."

"What happened in Germany? Did you send the new team?"

"Um, no need for that. Agent Barton finished his mission by himself."

"Didn't you tell him that I need him to leave everything and come here?"

"I did, sir."

"Did you tell him that you sent a new team for the mission?"

"I did, sir."

"Did he listen to you?"

"He didn't, sir."

"That agent will drive me crazy."

"Who's that awful agent who dares to drive _you_ crazy?" Clint stepped into his office. "Think fast, Coulson." He said to Phil and threw him his half-eaten apple.

Phil grabbed it and took a look at it. "What's that?"

"That's my apple."

"Why did you throw it at me?"

"You can have it."

"It's- It's almost eaten."

Clint shrugged. "Well, then throw it away."

Nick cleared his throat. "Agent Coulson, would you mind leaving me and Agent Barton alone?"

"Of course, Director Fury." He replied and started walking to the door quickly.

"It was good working with you, Coulson." Clint told Phil, patting his shoulder as he got past through him. Coulson exited the office closing the door behind him. "Oh! I have left some german sausages at your desk!" Clint shouted behind his back and turned to face Nick Fury.

"Barton."

"What? He likes sausages, so I-"

"We both know that I'm not talking about the sausages."

"Okay, um... Is it the apple?" Clint guessed.

"Barton, you-"

"No, no. I got this. Just let me think." Clint cut him off. He rubbed his chin and crossed his arms in his chest, trying to make a serious face.

"Agent Bart-"

"No, seriously. I can find it. I'm good at guessing." Clint interrupted.

"That's enou-"

"Could I have a seat? I think better when I sit."

Nick took a deep breath. "This is not a joke."

"Yeah, yeah I know." Clint said, grabbing a chair and pulling it to his side. He threw himself on it and left his bow next to him, leaning on the chair. "This bow is killing me, do you know how much it weights?" He asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

Nick grabbed a chair and sat opposite of him. "Agent Barton, could you tell me why you didn't finish your mission?"

"Wh-What? Didn't Coulson tell you about Germany? My mission is done. No more leaked confidential SHIELD files!" Clint replied.

"Stop playing stupid, Barton. Why didn't you kill the Red Room girl?"

Clint sat back at his seat. "Oh..." He scrached the back of his neck. " _That_ mission."

"Yes, Barton. _That_ mission." Nick paused. "Why is she still alive?"

"Well, what can I say? Killing is not in blood, sir."

Nick stared at him. "You are literally a trained killer. You are a master assassin. For God's sake, you just returned from a mission you were sent to kill." He took a breath. "Do you know that this is considered treason?"

Clint sat up. "Hey, hey! It's not treason, I was about to tell you."

"You said you killed her two weeks ago. When were you planning on telling me?"

Clint cleared his throat awkwardly. " _Soon_."

"Soon?"

"Yeah, soon! Look, it's not treason. I didn't join her side, I didn't let her free to go wherever the hell she wanted."

"Oh really? And where is she now?"

"In my apartment." He murmured.

"In your-" He paused to take a deep breath in a desperate attempt to calm himself down. "Is she _at least_ restrained?"

"No."

"Then, how the hell is she _not_ free?"

"Nick, I-"

Nick snided. "What did you see in her, Barton? What did you see that no one in SHIELD saw? Is it..." He paused. "Are you, like, _in love_ with her or something?"

Clint's eyes widened. "No, of course not, Director." He looked back at his hands. "It's just... I saw the good in her."

"Agent, do I need to remind you why SHIELD wants her dead? Did you read her file?"

"Yes, sir. I did read her file. And I know what she's done. But my gut says that she's just struggling to survive. She simply would do anything to survive. And she's spent most of her life in a jail in which she was basically _tortured_ until she became the killer they wanted her to be. She's not a bad guy, she's just brainwashed."

"Barton, you know that it's gonna be hard for her to adjust here. It won't be easy neither for her nor for us. And she's not trustworthy." He stared at the archer.

"Am I still trustworthy, Director Fury?" Clint questioned.

Nick gave him a glance. "You lied to us. For two weeks you let us think Romanova was dead. If Coulson hadn't found out about her, you would still let us believe you killed her."

Clint scoffed. "Coulson." He whispered. "I shouldn't have bought him the sausages."

"Don't turn this around on him." Nick stated. "And now what?"

Clint shrugged. "I can bring her here tomorrow."

"I don't like this, Barton."

"I'll have her restrained. And I'll be with her all the time. She won't stay alone with other agents."

"You'd better not be wrong about her, Agent Barton."

...

Phil Coulson was pacing anxiously up and down in front of SHIELD's main entrance. Nick Fury was standing still close by him, his hands resting entwined on his backside. Next to him was Maria Hill, her eyes fixed at the road, trying to ignore Phil's frantic behavior. All three of them were waiting, eager to meet the infamous Natalia Romanova, the Black Widow.

Clint's car finally appeared at the road. Once he parked at his regular spot, he got out, followed by a red-haired woman. "Finally we meet." Fury murmured to himself.

The two assassins approached carefully the SHIELD agents and director. Nick looked at the female. "Natalia Romanova?"

The woman nodded sharply. "That's me." She confirmed, giving a light mysterious smile at the people standing in front of her. "Director Fury?" She asked back, taking a positive nod as a response.

Maria turned to Clint. "Agent Barton."

Clint looked back at her. "Agent Hill."

Phil cleared his throat. "And I'm Agent Coulson." He stated. Four pairs of eyes turned to him. "In case anyone is interested..." He trailed off.

"I't's a pleasure to have you here, Natalia."

She snorted. "No, it's not. No need to act, Director. You'd prefer to have my lifeless body lying in your feet with an arrow stuck in the heart."

Nick smiled in contentment. "Honest and raw. Good."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Aren't agents here honest, Director?"

Nick glanced at Barton, searching for a reaction. "Not as much as they should be, dear."

"Too bad to hear that."

"Well, my agents are trustworthy, though. Something you're not, miss Romanova."

"We can work on that."

"We definitely can. After some evaluations and tests we'll have to put you through."

"Yeah, Clint talked me through."

Nick suppresed a smile and turned his attention to Maria. "Agent, can you escort miss Romanova to the inside of the building?"

Maria nodded. "Of course, Director." She motioned to Natalia to follow her and the women entered the building first, followed by the three men.

Coulson leaned in and whispered to Clint, unable to hold back a huge smirk. " _Clint_ talked me through?"

"Oh, shut up, Coulson." Clint replied bitterly.

...

"You called me?" Clint wondered as soon as he entered Fury's office.

Nick was sitting behind his desk, shuffling some papers in front of him. He looked up and motioned to Clint to approach. "Yes, sit down Agent."

Clint threw himself in the chair in front of Nick's office, placing his feet on top of it. Nick gave him a warning glare that didn't seem to affect the archer. "What do you want, sir?"

Nick moved the papers to the side and rested his elbows on his desk, gazing deep into Barton's eyes. "Agent, you know how much I value you in SHIELD. You're a great asset, with excellent skills and admirable passion for this job. And I'm very lucky to have you here. I genuinely believe that you're one of the most important people in here."

Clint cleared his throat. "Just to be clear, I really like you as my boss, and I think you're great and shit, but I'm not into guys."

Nick smiled slightly. "Relax, Agent Barton. This is not a love confession."

Clint smirked. "Good, because that would be awkward." He joked.

"Agent. The reason I called you is Romanova."

Clint furrowed his eyebrows. "What did she do?"

"Nothing, yet. But I still don't trust her. She's been in the facility for a week and she hasn't done anything to gain my trust. She's not even _trying_."

"Sir, I'm sure you can understand how it must be for her to be here. She's not trusting you either, she's not trusting _anyone_ here. Would it be easy for you to spend your days in a building full of agents that are either terrified of you or hate you? I mean, the assassin who was sent to kill her is here, along with the people who gave him the order." He paused. "This is too much for her."

"That doesn't change the fact that I don't like her here."

"I thought she made a good first impression."

"It's not always about the first impression."

"It's _always_ about the first impression for you, Director."

Nick smiled. "If that's true, you wouldn't be here Agent Barton. I doubt you would even be alive."

...

Phil entered Fury's office quickly. "You called, sir?"

Nick Fury stood up. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and started pacing towards the agent. "Yes, Coulson. I have a task for you."

Phil nodded. "Of course, Director. Whatever you need."

"I need you to inform Agent Barton that his friend made it. She's officially a SHIELD agent."

"I'm on it." Coulson reported and walked to the door.

"Oh! And, Coulson?" Phil paused and turned to face his supevisor. "If he gets too cocky, remind him that he's still in suspension."

Phil smiled. "It would be my pleasure, sir."

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 **Just mentioning that this exact story is also in AO3, in case you prefer that site. I am currently accepting requests, for more info check out my profile :) And please don't forget to leave some feedback, all comments are welcome. :)**


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